The Firmware Page

Hi all, new member here with a query.

I have a Dell Dim4700 with Bios RevA10, XP Home sp2 and NEC3530A dvd/cd drive. I tried to play a disk from another region recently which led me to flash the firmware with V301 rpc1 firmware from Ligee&Dee. I used WinFlash GUI to perform the flash but couldnt play the DVD following this. So I then flashed to Dell v104C RPC1 firmware and still couldnt play DVD disks. So then I reaplaced the original firmware which I had backed up before starting (also v104C) and since then, used the NEC Flash Utility from the Dell site (NEC ND353_v104c.exe) to flash again.

End result is that while the drive reads CDs, it wont read/recognise any DVDs that I have - both retail DVD9s and other backups which are variously -r (imation) +rw (Sony) and -r (fujifilm) which it had previously recognised. When I insert the disk and close the tray, the light comes on for about 6 seconds and then I hear a click, then over and over again about 8-10 times and eventually the light goes out and nothing happens. In explorer, no disk name appears and no autoplay window comes up either. I attach the disk info output below which seems to indicate that it can indeed read/ write DVDs:

DISCINFO VERSION : 1.7.0 BETA.12
VENDOR : _NEC
MODEL : DVD+-RW ND-3530A
REVISION : 104C
VENDOR SPECIFIC : 05090500
LOADING MECHANISM : Tray
SERIAL NUMBER : ----
NUMBER VOL. LEVELS : 256
BUFFER SIZE : 2048KB
INTERFACE : ATAPI
RPC2 SCHEME : YES
STATUS : Set
USER CHANGES : 4
VENDOR CHANGES : 4
CURRENT REGION : 4
ANALOG AUDIO PLAY : YES
COMPOSITE OUTPUT : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT1 : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT2 : NO
READ UPC CODE : YES
MULTISESSION READ : YES
MODE 2 FORM 1 : YES
MODE 2 FORM 2 : YES
READ ISRC CODE : YES
READ BAD CODE : NO
BUFFER UNDER-RUN : YES
MT. RAINIER : NO
CAN READ CDR : YES
CAN READ CDRW : YES
CAN READ CDRM2 : YES
CAN WRITE CDR : YES
CAN WRITE CDRW : YES
CAN TEST WRITE : YES
CAN READ DVD-ROM : YES
CAN READ DVD-R : YES
CAN READ DVD-RW : YES
CAN READ DVD-RAM : NO
CAN READ DVD+R : YES
CAN READ DVD+RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RAM : NO
CAN WRITE DVD+R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+RW : YES
MAX CDR READ SPEED : 48
MAX CDR WRITE SPEED: 48

Its been a while since I played disks on the computer. I read somewhere that I should've used the DOS Flash utility (not WinGUI) to perform the initial flash and there is always the chance that some other software installed has done something unknown to affect the drive performance.

Can anyone help me try to isolate the problem further or point me in the right direction. I've searched for all the current firmware I can for the drive and read more than a fair share of forums. Used NEC Dump and others to try and identify what differences there are between the firmwares but havent yet landed on anything concrete. Also tried a seemingly useful Ms Support utility MS FixIT but wasnt helpful as it couldnt read the media in the drive which is the problem I was trying to fix anyway.

Appreciate any advice from other members.

Since you have a Dell Laptop the Dell firmware would be the correct choice.

Could you start up in SAFE MODE and test out the drive capabilities, eg. if it does correctly read cd and dvd media?

Restarted in safe mode. Still recognises CDs but not any DVDs. Interestingly, in safe mode in explorer under 'devices with removable storage', it recognises the drive name only as a CD ROM whereas in normal startup mode, the drive name is DVD-RW drive. In device manager in normal mode, it still seems to know that it is a DVD+-RW drive however. Not sure if this is a sympton but thought I would mention it just in case.

The drive tries to read DVDs ie the light goes on and the clicking sound about 10 times every six to eight seconds over about 30 seconds. The disk icon appears beside the cursor like it is about to autoplay but then it gives up.

I uninstalled DVD decrypter and DVD Shrink recently - not sure if this created a problem unknowingly but still have PowerDVD and Sonic Record Now installed so cant see it is for lack of encoder/ decoder. Again not sure this is important but just putting it out there.
Thanks

Don't believe in what explorer tells you - its a well known windows bug.

Devicemanager gives you more correct info in that case.

Some entries in the error log of the event viewer?

Either the dvd lens is damaged, dejusted or needs proper cleaning.
I would try with Isopropanol and a q-tip to clean the lens.

Hi chef,

A couple of things. Last night I tried one of those disk cleaning gizmos but no dice. Still did not read disks. So dismantled the drive and cleaned the laser as suggested and voila! read the first disk but then PowerDVD locked up the computer real hard and had to reboot. After I rebooted, I tried the same and another disc but this time it wouldnt read anything (DVDs) again. Same symptoms as before.

I attach extracts from the event viewer (system) logs as requested. There were some cdrom errors in there so I saved a couple of those. Also managed to export the whole log FYI but was an .evt file and dont know what can read this and anyway, wasnt allowed to upload that file extension.

I think its the laser on the blink. I think its time to buy a new drive. Agree?

Just upload this .evt file to eg. mediafire and send me the link, I'll have a look at it then.

From the symptoms it seems cyberlink bombs in with a quirky driver and prevents your drive from working normally.
Maybe there is an update for the cyberlink software, I wouldnt be surprised.

OK, I've PMed you the links. I've included two files from the 'system' event viewer. One contains extracts related only to cdrom errors, the other the whole kaboodle! Thanks again Chef for your help and advice.